


Halo (Wars): Soul and Flames

by insomniacOlympian



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Game: Halo Wars, Gen, Human-Covenant War, References to Halo (Video Games), SPARTAN Program, SPARTAN-II, Spartans Have Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insomniacOlympian/pseuds/insomniacOlympian
Summary: this takes place between the Halo Wars level  "Scarab" and the next one, "Anders Signal." its after the "She Is Not My Girlfriend" cutscene.
Relationships: Ellen Anders/John Forge
Kudos: 4





	Halo (Wars): Soul and Flames

Calling out a Spartan ll - or any Spartan, if the rumors of other programs was true - on anything?

Would probably be the idea most UNSC servicepeople would act on if they wanted a quasi-legal assisted suicide. 

The only incident where anyone besides a comissioned officer had confronted one of the armored behemoths?

Had involved a group of the Space Commands militaries beyond skilled ODST's tryng to corner an at that point far younger Sierra 117. 

Despite all of their skills and years of expertise, the supersoldier had still mopped the floor with all of the Helljumpers to the point most stories said that at least some of them had died. 

Jerome was no John 117. 

Yet he was still a Spartan ll just the same and also a dangerous one, even for them. 

The Senior Chief had fought tooth and nail as an acting CO while his Red Team had defended Arcadia with no one but conscripts, police and local garrisons at their sides.

Meanwhile, while Sgt. Forge had fought in dozens of battles against both Covenant and Human Rebels by now? 

He was no Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, either. 

The last thing he wanted to do was fight the other soldier, though. 

Rank, reputation and years of service weren't just ribbons in a collection of credibility. 

They held a responsibility to themselves, their years, the soldier who'd lived them and the other people around them, especially lower ranking ones or civilians. 

Forge didn't want to talk as a UNSC Marine, to a Spartan. 

Officer and officer and man to man, all John wanted to know was whether the other mans suggestion of destroying the ship Anders had been brought to was sarcastic, or not. 

For all their reputation and mystique, the Spartan ll's were Humans just like the Orion Program soldiers before them had been. 

Yet there was obviously something that was different about them beyond status or strength. 

To be honest, a lot of them seemed broken in a way that stank of institutionalization and anyone with half a brain could put 2 & 2 together and realize they must have come from fighting with the Innies, not the Covenant. 

So he wanted to check on whether this one still knew all of that himself. 

For a lot of reasons besides just Anders safety, really. 

The Spartan ll's were a part of the Spirit of Fires list of personnel now too, after all. 

Even if Jeromes suggestion wasn't fully literal, the fact he'd given it at all could be seen as worrying. 

That's how the bald man had ended up walking into the mess hall in just his combat BDU's, feeling strangely naked without the armor pauldrons and add-ons that would usually go over them. 

Even if not here. 

It's just that here wasn't in its usual set-up. Three Humans in this mess were visibly different from the others. 

It was the smaller differences that stuck out, too. 

Douglas was average looking, with barely there brunette hair shaven down just like Forges and a somewhat ruddy, unsurely brown and yet maybe darkly tanned skin. 

He was racially ambigious and generic beyond that to the point you could have found him anywhere.

UNSC or not, military or not. 

He was at ease with himself and the olive skinned, blonde Alice at his side. 

The dark haired and pale skinned Jerome "092" was the exact same way, watching his squadmates speak with a knowing smile on his face. 

It's just that all three of them were visibly over six feet tall and yet while muscular and fattened, didn't have proportions as if their height was one they'd naturally grown into. 

Instead, it looked like the Spartan ll's forms had grown into a scale their bodies had been stretched out to. 

They looked like Olympians and completely normal- if bright eyed and alert - and that screamed wrong more then anything more obvious. 

Forge realized that what he was feeling while watching these three with these thoughts was a mixture of empathy, fear and sympathy without an ounce of pity and that was far more familiar then only neing afraid. 

All this had to be was an officer to officer talk so that's all it would be. 

That in mind, Forge started to walk over and waited for the sound of his bootfalls to catch the Spartans attention before stopping, arms folded. 

"Good evening, Red Team." He settled on, far too aware of how nervous his smile must be. 

"Evening, Sgt. Forge. Is there something we can help you with?" Jerome asked politely, having defaulted to speaking for his partners while they both went silent so he could do so. 

Interesting. Unit cohesion was automatic and complete on and off of the field. 

Forge could feel his smile warming genuinely, now. 

"I don't need or want any help from the entire team as such actually, Senior Officer." He admitted. "I was wondering if I could just ask you about something, real quick?"

"Does your question have to do with how I told Captain Cutter that Anders distance from the Spirit of Fires put it outside of weapons range?" Jerome asked suddenly, making the Seargent freeze in place. 

He suddenly realized how close he actually was to the three Spartan ll's and forced himself to take a quick and quiet breath. 

"Yeah, you could say that. That's exactly what I wanted to ask you about, Jerome." Forge told the other man, blinking as he realized he'd used the commandos name. 

A commando who was standing up from his chair, now. 

"You can go ahead and ask whatever you like then, Seargent." He offered simply but despite his calm and poise or maybe in spite of both, Forge found himself worried. 

"No need to get offended, Spartan. I'm not accusing you of anything." The marine said, putting his hands on Jeromes chair. 

Apparently, ONI's whiz-kids didn't take kindly to control. Johns counterpart grabbed the lower part of the chairs back and suddenly threw it against a support so hard that it audibly cracked. Loudly. 

He was smart enough to let the other man speak, them. 

"I never said you accused me of anything and I don't think thats what you want for me. I'm not offended. You came here for and with a direct question, to ask it of me. I'm not angry about answering. I can just tell how nervous you are. It's annoying."

There was really nothing to be said, there. This would be bullying if Jeromes every word hadn't spelled out "I don't actually want to use anything close to the force I just used, on you." Still, this was a touchy subject. 

One that Douglas and Alice were apparemtly waiting for. John looked from the cat eyed people to their leader, swallowing. 

"Alright. Understood. You're really not angry? Just making a point?"

"Yes."

"Got it. What I was curious about, then. Man to man and officer to officer, both. The way you said it, well. Jerome. Would you have seriously or /were/ you seriously suggesting that Cutter should destroy the ship Anders was on? If there weren't other options?"

"What'd you think, Seargent?" 

"I don't know. I'd hope that it'd be a no but that's why I'm asking. No offense but you folks are hard to read, helmet or not."

Jerome inclined his head and shrugged, then visibly relaxed as he leaned back against the chair. 

"Shooting the Covie ship was my first idea but I know you'd notice that next, I only pointed out that Anders abduction had to be dealt with by Cutter under UNSC law somehow, ASAP. I said that right as Serina was talking about tracking Anders, too. I was trying to get it in his head that we should keep tracking up to the point of chasing her kidnappers down."

He had noticed that but this was where John actually had a real problem. 

"Yeah, I noticed that. It's why I'm still asking if you were serious even though it seems you weren't, instead of telling you off like I'm already sure about you because I don't get why you would take the chance he'd take your first idea seriously if you didn't want him to."

"I didn't think he would take it seriously. There wasn't a chance. He was listening to both of us and Serina, so I gave the Captain am option I figured he and I wouldn't want to swallow first. Before ones I actually thought he should take. Or would. I was testing him."

Jerome paused for a moment and slowly smiled. 

"Kind of like how I think we're testing each other right now."

Forge nodded at that, working to keep a smile off of his own face for more then one reason. As he had hoped, Jerome was only taking a calculated risk. 

His training hadn't taken away his ability to recognize he'd done so or the enormity of that either. 

Again, in more ways then one. 

On a normal Humans level, Spartan ll's mysterious program hadn't taken their Humanity or put it down. 

Whatever had made them, they weren't only physically and mentally superior but still well off emotionally. 

If not superior in that realm, too. 

To put Forges thinking about this short? Red Teams leader still knew three things, well: 

everyones wider Human and UNSC reality, objective reality and the one he operated on. 

John held his hands out, slightly. 

"So I would have gotten you wrong, thinking different. You were just taking a risk, trusting that Cutter was a good man and it paid off for us. For Anders, too."

Jerome was nodding along but suddenly stopped, watching him. 

Then he reached over, punching a bulkhead so hard that a keyboard halfway craed off for it with a series of sickeningly loud crunches and ripping sounds. 

"It wasn't a risk."

Had he been wrong?

"How do you know that?" He asked the "Supercommando-" the usually Mjolnir armored Spartan ll team leader "naked" before him, in average clothes. 

"I knew Captian Cutter by both reputation and career record. Knowing those and UNSC officers, I could guess whether it was a risk to assume he was a good man. To suggest shooting Anders ship down - and first, too."

"Yeah. Alright." John said softly, realizing he'd given the vocal equivalent of a shrug with his tone of voice, just now. 

Suddenly, Serinas voice came on the intercom. 

"Since you boys have come to both an agreement and agreement to disagree already and this doesn't seem like a fight, can you drop the subject before it might become one?" The British - or maybe English or Anglo - coded A.I. asked. 

"If I was told to, I would not enjoy helping direct whichever mechanics had to come through there."

"Understood, Serina." Is what both men said in unision, looking to each other after they spoke.

After Arcadia, they'd walked unto Captain Cutters bridge as fellow commanders and soldiers whose forces - and each other - had fought tooth and nail. 

He'd taken offense to the Spartans suggestions but had hoped thats all they were and was glad to find out he'd been right. 

Plus, this conversation was really making him take a shine to Jerome and he was sure he'd like the other two Spartans as well. 

Despite the fact that she'd bask in smugness to hear it, Serina was right. 

This could have been a fight but hadn't been and it didn't need to be, either. 

Forge watched as Alice and Douglass looked to the Spartan officer with small smirks growing on both a darker and lighter face. 

Jerome suddenly had a smile to match his squadmates, too. 

"Sgt. Forge, want to have some lunch with the three of us and come up with some ideas on what we'll do when it comes to a rescue mission for Professor Anders? She was one of Hasleys students anyway and Catherine is an old, old friend of The Spartans."

Forge smiled then, as well- somehow he'd won all of Red Teams trust and respect and was now being offered their friendship, as well. 

It'd be stupid not to try and win that, saving Anders or not. 

Although she was the biggest thing on his mind, right now. She wouldn't not be until he knew she was safe. 

For now though, it made sense to sit down.


End file.
